Hillary Campaign Targets Romney Donors

Hillary Clinton's campaign team has begun hitting up Mitt Romney donors as part of a new push to win over GOP and independent contributors among the Never Trump ranks, Politico reports.

The outreach – "Together for America Finance Council" – started Aug. 12 with an email sent to the Democratic nominee's top fundraisers, and included a sample pitch to woo cross-over contributors willing to raise or shell out from $10,000 to $100,000 for the Clinton operation.

"Who would have ever thought you could convince Republicans to give money to Hillary Clinton in order to save the soul of the party?" one source tells Politico.

The Democratic push is focused on securing $2,700-level GOP donors who might want a chance to attend a Clinton fundraising event for the first time, Politico reports.

"It's Campaign 101 to try and go after the opposite party to get them to [support] you. It erodes confidence in the other party's nominee," GOP fundraiser Fred Malek tells Politico. "If I were in their shoes, I would do that."

But the push is being especially felt in Romney circles, according to Politico.

Romney finance council members David Nierenberg and Harry Sloan also have been contacted, with Sloan writing a $33,400 check for Clinton and the Democratic Party, Politico reports.

"I certainly did my best to raise some money for Romney and contributed," and now "I will certainly be making some calls and sending some notes out" for Clinton, Jim Cicconi, an AT&T executive and veteran of both the George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan White Houses, tells Politico.

Added lawyer Charlie Spies, Romney's chief financial officer and counsel in 2008 before helping launch his super PAC in 2012: "If [Donald] Trump's team had been organized, effective, or putting the party and winning above pettiness, they would have immediately worked — after he became the Republican nominee — through a list of his opponent's supporters."

"Instead, they did not," he said. "They also made clear: Mr. Trump does not reach out to people, you're either on board or you're not."